Consider This
by BlueRoseRabbit
Summary: Leo and Nico discuss who should close the Doors of Death from inside Tartarus. Not slash. One shot. No spoilers for House of Hades, this was written before the book came out.


_I am just splashing words on my iPod Touch, and I don't have any PJO or HoO books nearby, so please forgive any possible mistakes. This is a one-shot I just needed to write. I'm sure it's been done before, so I'm sorry if I accidentally copy someone. Cover art by viria, not me. _

* * *

Leo Valdez was sitting in his room, staring at the ceiling. Hazel had told him to get some sleep, so he had set the ship to autopilot for a little while. Frank was standing guard near the control panel and promised to let Leo know if anything bad happened.

Leo was trying to sleep, he really was. He just couldn't get the thought of Annabeth and Percy fighting monsters in Tartarus out of his mind. Leo had never been in Tartarus, thank the gods, so he didn't know what it was like, but he imagined it to be terrifying. The only person there that had been in Tartarus and come back was Nico di Angelo, son of Hades.

There was a knock at his door. "Come in," Leo called, because why not?

Nico di Angelo himself quietly entered the room. _Speak of the devil and he doth appear, _Leo thought wryly. _What does he want?_

"You know that the Doors of Death have to be sealed from the outside and inside, right?" Nico asked bluntly.

Leo blinked in surprise at Nico's abrupt speech. "Um-"

"I came to tell you that you have to help me pull Annabeth and Percy out of Tartarus so I can go in and close it from the inside. You and the others will have to close the outside." Nico said matter-of-factly.

Leo did a double take. "_You're_ closing the Doors of Death?"

"It can't be Percy, because Annabeth, his mom and his friends need him. It can't be Annabeth because Percy, her dad, and her friends need her. It can't be Hazel because it took effort to get her out of the Underworld, and I'm _not_ just letting her throw away her life. Not Frank, because Hazel needs him. Not Jason, because Piper, Thalia, and his friends need him. Piper can't do it, either, since her dad, Jason, and her friends need her. It can't be you-"

"Of course it could be me." Leo interrupted. "I don't have any family or romantic interests, and I'm the seventh wheel. My friends don't need me." He couldn't believe he was _volunteering _to be trapped in Tartarus for the remainder of his life- Wait, yes, he could. Leo supposed that he had known that he could be meant to close the Doors of Death.

"You have friends who would be devastated if you died, and you have a chance at a happy life and a relationship back at Camp. People like being around you." Nico argued.

"Well, the same could be said about you!"

"I have no chance of anything at Camp. People fear and dislike me because I am dark; I am the Ghost King. I am a son of Hades. And no one here would care if I died instead of them."

"Hazel is a daughter of Hades, and people don't hate her."

"She is friendly and kind. I am neither."

"Percy would be crushed if you died. So would Hazel." Leo pointed out.

"Piper, Jason, Hazel, Percy, and Annabeth would be devastated if they lost you. You've practically endeared yourself to everybody, I can tell." Nico countered.

"But-"

"Look, it's you or me, and it's gonna be me. I'll make sure of it. You've never been to Tartarus, you don't know what it's like. I wouldn't wish it on anyone." Nico's eyes looked dead and sort of far away for a moment, his expression haunted, as if recalling the torturous, traumatizing memories of the godsforsaken place.

Leo frowned. "No. Don't sacrifice yourself. I can do it. Do you really want to go back to that place? You fear Tartarus, I can tell. Do you want to go back there?"

"Better me than you." Nico said bleakly.

Leo exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Here, lets make a deal." He said.

"What?" Nico looked confused.

"When we get to the Doors of Death, you'll close the Doors. If you happen to die or something goes wrong, I'll close it instead. Just so that- so that everyone else will be safe."

"Agreed." The teenager shook hands with Leo and stood up. "Sleep. You've had a rough day."


End file.
